


Revealing Memories

by cutsycat



Series: Cutsycat's Bangs [7]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Episode: s03e24 Hiatus Part II, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 03:16:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21008834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: Gibbs never dealt with the loss of his wife and child. Now, an explosion brings all of those long buried feelings back to the surface. Can he deal with these feelings while still living in the house he shared with them? As he makes plans to leave, an unexpected visitor intrudes. Can Tony convince Gibbs to stay? Or is there more behind Gibbs' choice than Tony knows?





	1. The Explosion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jane_x80](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_x80/gifts).

> This is my entry for the 2019 NCIS Big Bang. This is also a very belated birthday gift to my friend, jane_x80. Happy belated birthday! Hope you enjoy the story!
> 
> Big Thanks to rose_malmaison for betaing for me and a wonderful heartful thanks to my artist, g_love99 who provided the lovely artwork you will see included here.
> 
> Artwork post to be added later, for now you can find g_love99 [here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/g_love99/profile).

Gibbs awoke and immediately clutched his head. All he could remember was the explosion and oh God, his girls. He lost his girls. 

At first, he thought the stream of people visiting him were other Marines that had heard about his loss and wanted to let him know he wasn’t alone. He ignored them, too lost in the memory of his girls. Shannon, Kelly, they hadn’t deserved to die. 

He didn’t know how he knew they were dead, only that he knew they were. He couldn’t remember being told that they were dead. He couldn’t remember much, other than a loud explosion that must have knocked him on his ass significantly for him to be in a hospital.

That’s when he realized that he’d send all of the people visiting him back to cadet training if they were actually Marines. There was a single person, an older gentleman that he kind of remembered being a friend of his, that wouldn’t need a refresher course. The rest of them were distinctly lacking in military bearing, however.

He remembered the redhead, though not her name. He wished she would leave him alone. They may have been lovers once, but that had been a mistake on his part that he had no intention of repeating. 

He could see the memories with her. He could remember that she was there when he was missing his girls and he had given in, in a moment of weakness. She’d placed the job over him, though, and he knew he couldn’t live that way.

His memories were all confused. It felt like he had just lost his girls, but at the same time he knew that many years had passed. His head felt completely jumbled and everything felt wrong.

His memories and feelings were conflicting and he couldn’t figure out what was real, what was past, what was now, and what were dreams or nightmares. There was another girl. Well, two of them, really. 

One he felt daughterly love for, though he couldn’t imagine why. She was older than Kelly would have been, had she lived. Why did she feel like a daughter to him? 

Her clothes were very strange, mostly black, and she wore a dog collar, which he didn’t understand at all. The other one had a defensive bearing like she was used to being attacked physically.

He felt something for her, but it wasn’t the same as for the one with a dog collar and dark clothes. He was pretty sure the defensive one’s name was Ziva, but he didn’t remember much about her other than that she knew how to kill. He remembered more about the other one, Abby, he thought her name was; but the images didn’t make any sense.

Why was he associating a coffin with her? That was very strange. Heck, everything was off right now. Everyone who visited him insisted that he knew them, but he didn’t. Not really.

He could barely remember his girls, let alone anything that might have happened after them. There were two guys that he felt protective of. One he worried about more than the other as he saw images of him being chained in a sewer, and in the hospital; struggling to stay alive. 

The other, Tim, he wanted to say, seemed to be a consummate geek. He knew more about these six than others, as if they were closer to him somehow. Yet, he wasn’t sure how he even knew them. 

The images of the green-eyed guy haunted him. They flashed through his mind alongside images of Kelly and Shannon, but he knew he hadn’t known the guy when Shannon and Kelly were alive. He wished he understood what was going on.

He wanted to get away. He needed to get away. He’d never been one who appreciated being fussed over, but currently the doctors were insisting he stay put. The redhead seemed to agree with them.

Something about the whole thing seemed off. He felt like the redhead shouldn’t have any say in whether or not he stayed in the hospital. There should be someone else who made those decisions, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember who, right now.

Mostly he wanted out of the hospital, but at the moment he didn’t have the energy to force it. The pain of remembering Shannon and Kelly’s death felt way too real. If it had really been years like it seemed, why was it so vivid?

It almost seemed physically painful. He didn’t understand why it still hurt this bad. He didn’t understand anything that was going on really.

People kept talking to him, dancing around the details. It would be funny watching them try to avoid saying anything that might give him information that he didn’t actually remember, if it weren’t so frustrating. He had flashes, but nothing concrete. 

He could see they were all disappointed when he didn’t remember their names, but he couldn’t spare a thought for them. He was too busy trying to keep himself together. He just wanted to be left alone. Was that too much to ask? Why was everyone up in his personal business? 

Had he changed that much that people actually thought he wanted their attention? He couldn’t believe that and glared at his visitors in an attempt to make them go away. Some of them, like Tim, or was it Tony, practically squeaked as they ran away. Others completely ignored his dark glower.

He couldn’t help wondering if his stare had lost its effect, but no, most of the nurses would flee, so somehow these people had become immune. That spoke of a familiarity that, frankly, bothered him. 

He finally managed to convince the doctors to let him leave, but they wouldn’t let him drive home. He felt that was unfair. There wasn’t anything wrong with his body. Still, he allowed his old friend with the military bearing, Ducky, to drive him home. 

He remembered his house. How could he not have? It hadn’t changed since Shannon and Kelly died. The outside looked exactly the same, maybe a little more weathered from the additional years that had past, but obviously his. 

Ducky offered to stay, but he shook his head. More than anything he wanted to be alone, right now. He needed to figure out what was going on in his head and he could only do that alone.

The memories of Shannon and Kelly were so overwhelming; all he wanted to do was find somewhere to hole up where they wouldn’t be so strong. He tried to think of where he could go. It would need to be somewhere he couldn’t be found easily as he highly doubted that his persistent hospital visitors would just give up.


	2. The Confrontation

He wracked his brain for people that he might know overseas before realizing if he couldn’t remember the people here, there was no way he’d remember them. He started pilfering through some old worn out books, having just stumbled across the name Mike Franks when he heard his front door open.

”I brought take out,” the green-eyed man announced.

It was the tall, good-looking one. Gibbs grunted. “I’m leaving.”

“Well, that’s rude,” the younger male grinned cheerfully, brandishing the bag of takeout. “Come on, Gibbs. You gotta eat.”

Gibbs scowled at the intruder. Tony? Tim? 

He couldn’t remember which one this one was. They were both on his team. Though, this was definitely the hotter one.

Gibbs wanted to head slap himself for that thought. He was the boss. He shouldn’t be having thoughts like that no matter how true they were.

“I’m leaving,” Gibbs insisted, not knowing how else to get the guy to leave; seeing as his patented glare seemed to have zero impact on the guy.

“You see, I know that. You want time alone to work this all out. You’ll probably end up in a basement somewhere with some bourbon, and that’s not good for you. So just eat before you go drinking yourself to death.”

Gibbs’ glower intensified, but Tony -- or Tim -- continued to ignore it. In fact, the green eyes twinkled as Gibbs continued to attempt to bore daggers into him. The guy shut the door behind him, apparently done waiting for Gibbs to do it. 

“Seriously. I have a plane to catch.”

“Yeah? Where you goin’?” the guy asked, seemingly unconcerned.

Gibbs scowled.

The man, who was too hot for his own good, smirked. “Thought so. Now, come on. Let’s eat.”

Gibbs’ frown deepened. This man behaved like he could read him without even trying. How could this man know him so well?

The unwanted visitor started to lay the takeout containers on the coffee table in the living room. Pretty soon, the smell of Chinese filled the room. Gibbs had to admit it smelled pretty good.

He relented and asked, “Which one are you?”

“Aw, boss. You really don’t remember me? I’m disappointed. I would have thought we were like Sonny and Cher or maybe Bonnie and Clyde. On second thought, neither of us are women. Maybe we’re not like either of those, after all. You, at least, have to remember...”

The guy continued talking, but Gibbs had stopped paying attention. He’d increased his glare at the amount of words coming out of the dark-haired one’s mouth, but it had made no difference. Something about how the man was yammering on was ringing bells in his head. “You sure do like your yabba, yabba.”

“Oh, you do remember something about me. I knew it was in there somewhere.”

Gibbs was starting to remember a lot about the green-eyed, dark-haired man, now, but he still couldn’t remember his name. He remembered the man tackling him in Baltimore when he was on a case and inviting the guy to work for him. He even remembered telling him about Rule 5 and that he was good. 

He still couldn’t remember the guy’s name. He should know it. He knew he should and it was driving him crazy that he didn’t.

The handsome young man was the first one who had ever stayed on his team. That meant something. What was his name? Gibbs snarled and grabbed a box of lo mein and started shoveling it into his mouth. 

“Whoa, slow down, Gibbs. What’s the matter?”

Gibbs just glowered and continued to shovel food into his mouth. Why couldn’t he remember his name? The guy was his second in command for fucking sake, he knew that much. he should know his name.

Mr. Talkative rolled his eyes. “Geez. It’s lo mein, not water from the Holy Grail. Slow down. We don’t need you killing yourself.”

Gibbs slammed the takeout container on the table. “Why are you here?”

“Just making sure you eat.”

“That’s not your job.”

“I know.” the green-eyed guy grinned, annoyingly cheerful in the face of Gibbs’ ire.

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Then why are you still here?”

”Can’t a guy bring takeout for his boss that just got out of the hospital?” the young man shrugged whimsically. “Also, you left these.” He pulled out Gibbs’ badge and gun. “You didn’t think I was just going to let you quit without saying goodbye, did you?”

“Why would you care? You’re just my second in command.”

“Aw. Gibbs, I’m hurt. You remember my NCIS rank, but not my name.”

“I know your name.”

An eyebrow raised in challenge. “Really? What’s my name then?”

Gibbs scowled.

His SIC nodded. “I thought not.”

Tired of being on the defensive and hoping to scare the guy away, Gibbs tossed out something that he knew would piss off most men, being gay, “Were we in a relationship of some sort?”

“Why, boss, do you think I’m pretty?” the unfortunately still hot man teased, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs growled.

“That’s one of my names. The one you use most frequently at work. Do you remember my first name?”

“Why are you doing this? What do you want?”

“I want Gibbs back. The Gibbs I know would never leave like this.” The mask the man had been wearing ever since he arrived slipped slightly, and Gibbs could see how weary and hurt the guy was. Gibbs could tell that DiNozzo needed something from him, but he wasn’t sure what and he could tell his SIC didn’t expect to receive it from him, right now.

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do,” Gibbs snarled.

“Maybe not, but I don’t think that’s it. I think you’re just scared.”

Gibbs scoffed. “Scared of what? I’m not scared.”

“No? Sure looks like it to me. I mean, you are planning to run away and that’s what scared little boys do, right?” Tony hated how much he sounded like his father from when he was a kid, but he needed Gibbs back. His Gibbs. He just hoped that this worked and helped bring Gibbs’ recent memories back.

Something was off with the director and Gibbs was the only one he trusted to help him figure it out. Jenny had been trying to force Tony to accept an undercover op the whole time Gibbs had been in the hospital. It hadn’t felt right. 

He’d been doing his best to hold her off, but he really needed to talk it out with someone. Gibbs was the only one he could talk to about this or he had been, before this damned memory loss that he was suffering from. Jenny insisted he couldn’t tell anyone about it, but all undercover assignments for team members had to go through the lead agent. He knew she couldn’t rake him over the coals for telling Gibbs about it, no matter how much she wanted to. He just wished he knew what was really going on; why she was behaving this way.

Gibbs sneered, beyond frustrated at this point in time, “What do you want, DiNozzo? Did I forget a relationship we had or something? Is that why you’re so hot and bothered about this?” All he wanted was some peace and quiet, to be able to sort things out. Why couldn’t everyone just leave him alone?

Tony raised an eyebrow, purposefully not thinking about what a relationship with Gibbs might mean at this point in time. He could worry about that later, after he had his Gibbs back. “Hit a nerve, huh? You still don’t know my name? What’s the matter did you want to have a relationship with me? Is that why you repressed your memories of me? Because you’ve secretly been pining for me all this time?”

”No.” Gibbs immediately protested. 

“Then what?” Tony raised his chin, daring Gibbs to tell him the truth.

”I don’t understand you.”

Tony blinked, not expecting that non-sequitur. “What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing. Just leave.”

“Come on, Gibbs. Don’t push me away, now. We can handle this together.” Tony wanted more than anything to be working with Gibbs instead of against him, but Gibbs had to let him in first.

“What do you want from me, DiNozzo?”

“I want my Gibbs back. The one that I left Baltimore for.”

“You left Baltimore because your partner was dirty. Don’t lie to me.” Gibbs glared even harder at Tony.

Tony shrugged with a bit of a smile. “Glad you remember some stuff about me.” He hated playing the fool and wearing a mask, but he knew he couldn’t lower his defenses until Gibbs was more himself and less raw. Gibbs was saying so many things Tony knew he didn’t mean, simply because of the amnesia and the instinct Tony had seen time and time again, to shut down, run away, and lick his wounds in silence.

It drove Tony crazy every time Gibbs did this silent treatment and shut the team out. This time things were serious enough that Tony had decided he had to push. He had to break through Gibbs’ normal defenses and get to the bottom of what was going on. If that meant he had to pretend everything was okay and that Gibbs’ words weren’t hurting him, that’s what he would do.

In an attempt to intimidate Tony, Gibbs pressed forward, looming over Tony with his broad shoulders until Tony’s back was pressed against the closed door. “I remember a lot about you.”

“Really? Like what?” Tony refused to back down even though Gibbs was definitely stronger than him. Tony had him as far as height went and he wasn’t about to give in and just let Gibbs run out on him. The team needed him here. Tony needed him here.

”You’re my SFA. You’re the one I hand trained to take over when I retire. You don’t need me. You’ll be fine.”

“There’s more to life than work, Gibbs.” 

“I know that. I’ve been married 4 times.”

“And how’s that working out for you?” Tony jeered, purposefully trying to push Gibbs’ buttons.

“It would work out a lot better if I didn’t have feelings for my SFA,” Gibbs blurted unintentionally.

Before Tony could recover from that shocking statement, Gibbs shook his head. “Forget I said that.”

“No, Gibbs. You don’t get to say something like that and expect me to just forget it. Especially not now. Why did you say that?”

Taking a step back, Gibbs ran a hand through his hair. “I keep seeing you mixed up with Shannon and Kelly. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“So you don’t even know if you have feelings for me?” Tony’s voice rose, demanding the truth.

“No.” Gibbs admitted.

“Then why did you say that?” 

There was something there, something between them. He just couldn’t put his finger on what it was, exactly. He needed time to think through this whole thing, time alone, but Tony wouldn’t leave. Tony just kept pushing his buttons and he’d been trying to push Tony’s right back. “I thought it would shock you enough to leave.”

Tony shook his head. “You really don’t remember me, if that’s the case.”

Gibbs shoulders dropped as he admitted defeat. Tony grabbed his hand and led him to the couch. “Talk to me, Gibbs. Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”

“Not much of a talker.”

“Know that, but today it’s necessary. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on in that brain of yours.”

”I don’t need help.”

Tony just gave Gibbs a look. 

Gibbs looked away. “Shannon and Kelly were everything to me. When I lost them I didn’t know what to do. I knew they would want me to go on, but I couldn’t because all I could see was them.”

Tony nodded. He’d kind of expected something similar when he’d found out about Gibbs’ dead wife and daughter. He didn’t say anything, though, feeling like it would break the spell if he opened his mouth.

“I...” Gibbs stopped there, finding it hard to admit how far he’d fallen when his SFA needed him to be strong.

“You what, Gibbs? It’s okay,” Tony reassured, knowing Gibbs needed support now instead of antagonization.

”I had my gun in my hand.” Gibbs closed his eyes. “I was just staring at it. Wondering if I should end my life. Wondering if there was anything left to live for.” Gibbs paused, took a breath. “I don’t know what happened, but suddenly all I could see was Shannon and Kelly telling me to stay and live my life. I didn’t agree with them, but the feeling that they wanted me to live was so strong I had to try. In order to prevent the guilt from eating me up inside, I buried my feelings for them and threw myself into work.”

“So you never really dealt with their loss?”

“No.”

“And the explosion brought you back to the point where you lost them and now you have to deal with their loss like you never did before.”

“Yeah.”

”So your solution was to run away?” Tony scoffed, making it clear how little he thought of that idea.

Gibbs grunted. “I need time to process my girls. It’s easier to do that when I’m not constantly being reminded of them and can go at my pace.” He waved a hand, indicating his home, the one he’d shared with his wife, the place where Kelly had grown up.

“There’s a simple solution for this that doesn’t involve running away, you know.”

“There is?”

“Stay at my place. You won’t be reminded of your girls there.”

“I thought we didn’t have that kind of relationship.”

“I said stay at my place. Not in my bed.”

“Oh.” Gibbs ducked his head, feeling his cheeks getting hot.

Tony shook his head. “Keep your head out of the gutter. You don’t even know if you like me.”

Raising his head, Gibbs met Tony’s eyes, challenging him, “What do you feel about me?”

“Well at work, you’re my partner, and I’ve always considered you a friend. I thought you knew that.”

Gibbs eyes narrowed. That wasn’t the answer he wanted, but he let it drop for now. He wasn’t exactly in the proper state of mind to even consider the ramifications of any feelings they had for each other.

“You have a guest room for me to stay in?” Gibbs felt like this wasn’t correct, but he didn’t know why.

Tony shook his head. “No. My place is rather small. It would probably be best for me to stay here, unless that would bother you.”

“That’s fine.”

“It’s settled then? You’ll stay at my place and continue to work, instead of running away.”

“Yeah. Though I don’t think I’ll come back to work right away.”

Tony nodded, “I’ll make sure the director files some leave time for you instead of your resignation. The team can do without you for a few days while you get your head on straight.”

Gibbs nodded before switching subjects. “Are you okay?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I may have memory problems, but I’m not stupid, DiNozzo. You came here for more than my existential crisis.”

“I’m fine, Gibbs.”

Gibbs searched Tony’s face and could see that wasn’t true. “DiNozzo. Don’t waste my time. Tell the truth.” Gibbs frowned.

Tony sighed. “I can handle it, Gibbs. You have enough problems.”

“DiNozzo. Spit it out.”

Tony sighed and gave in. “It’s Director Shepard.”

“What about her?”

“She’s pushing this undercover operation. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Do you know what’s off?”

Tony shook his head.

“Can you hold her off until I get back?”

“I think so.”

“Do that. If it gets to be too much, let me know and I’ll come back early.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Just talk with her.” Gibbs grunted.

“You think that will be enough?”

He remembered more about the director than she would like, given her behavior at the hospital made it obvious that she wanted a second chance with him and that would never happen. It might not be enough to figure out what she was thinking, but it would have to be good enough. “I know her better than you do. I stand a better chance of figuring out what she’s hiding.”

Tony nodded. “You going to be alright here tonight? Or do you want to stay at my place?”

“I’ll be alright here.”

Tony nodded again and turned to leave.

“And DiNozzo, thanks. You didn’t have to do this.”

“No problem. I’ll always have your back, Gibbs.”


	3. Trying To Move On

Gibbs settled back on the couch and thought about the enigma that was his SFA. The guy hadn’t reacted with interest when Gibbs declared his feelings, but he hadn’t reacted with disgust either. It was obvious that DiNozzo was, at the very least, bi or a very open-minded straight guy.

Gibbs still wasn’t sure what he felt for his SFA. It was all jumbled up with his feelings for Shannon and Kelly. More than anything, he really wanted to run away, but he’d essentially promised his SFA he wouldn’t.

He couldn’t say he regretted agreeing to stay, either. The guy was willing to give up his safe space to make sure that Gibbs was okay and that Gibbs could sort out his memories. He didn’t know anyone who would do that for him, except maybe Ducky, who did drive him home from the hospital.

He had been completely ready to quit and never come back, but the discussion with Tony had changed all that. It wasn’t simply that he’d realized how much the team would miss him. It was more than that.

It bothered him that he clearly had such strong feelings for DiNozzo, with the loss of Shannon and Kelly so real. At the same time, the guy didn’t react like he was averse to the idea and now Gibbs couldn’t get the idea of a relationship with Tony out of his head. He would be Tony to him then, not DiNozzo.

He couldn’t even think of leaving now. He had a new romance to pursue. It was true that he hadn’t pursued the wives after Shannon, but he had pursued Shannon and Tony deserved the same honor from him.

First, he had to do what Tony said. He had to get his head on straight. He had to actually work through the grief that he’d buried for over twenty years.

He wasn’t ready to go to bed, not yet, and knew he had a lot of preparations to do for tomorrow. Tomorrow, he would take Tony up on his offer of the apartment. Tonight, he would say his goodbyes to his boat, for now.

Tony had said his place was small, so Gibbs’ doubted there was room to build a boat, plus it would be a big pain to try and move what he had of his boat out of his basement. As he moved his hand along the grain, he remembered that the boats had always been kind of cathartic for him. It was calming to work the wood and burning them always made him feel better about his failed marriages, but it was time to put them on hold and focus on his girls -- and eventually Tony.

His memories were still a mess. He only hoped that the time at DiNozzo’s would actually help. If it didn’t, the relationship he was staying in DC for would never have a chance to develop. 

He knew it was a lot of pressure he was putting, not just on himself, but on DiNozzo too. He had never been able to stop pushing himself, though. He had always been harder on himself than anyone else was.

It had started when he was a child. His father was always on his case, but despite trying to please him; his efforts never seemed to be good enough. Even before he’d lost his mother, he’d taken to pressuring himself to be better, to please his father.

It was one of the reasons he’d taken the Marine career path. He knew that he wouldn’t be allowed to get away with anything there. Even the Marines never managed to drive him harder than he did himself.

That was why, when Shannon and Kelly had told him to stay, he’d been forced to bury his feelings for them. He couldn’t stay, not with his failure to protect them hitting him smack in the face every day. He knew it would come back to bite him some day, but he hadn’t known any other way to continue on.

Gibbs still wasn’t sure he knew how to deal with their loss, but at least now he knew there wasn’t anything he could have done to save them. He could also see how much of a difference he had made in his team’s lives. That didn’t mean it would be easy to deal with the loss of his girls, but at least now he had a chance to do it right.

He put his tools away and tidied up the boat. He didn’t know how long he’d be gone. The boat would be fine, but he did one last double check that there was nothing that could accidentally damage it while he was gone. 

He knew he should be packing, but he pulled Shannon’s photo out of the drawer it lived in instead. Could he really say goodbye to his girls? Was it crazy of him to even be considering this? He didn’t even know if Tony returned his feelings. Maybe he could find some hints while he was at the guy’s apartment.

He couldn’t help feeling like his decision to stay was even crazier than his original decision to leave. He should probably be worried more about his team and whatever Jenny was up to, but the truth was he was too lost in his head to think about anyone else. It had been hard enough asking Tony if he was okay and he’d only been able to do that because he’d seen that Tony needed something from him. 

He knew his girls would want him to be happy, but he couldn’t help feeling that he was betraying them to even be considering a relationship with Tony. It was clear Tony knew him well. Tony had been able to bring him out of the tailspin caused by his memories and back to reality.

Only Franks and Shannon had been able to do that before. He’d trained Tony for the job. He knew Tony could handle whatever was up with Jenny and couldn’t help thinking that Tony had come over for another reason.

Who brings dinner for their boss just because he got out of the hospital? It was true they were friends, but this seemed beyond that. He couldn’t help feeling like Tony had feelings for him too.

He just needed to get his thoughts in order. He still didn’t remember as much as he should about the years that had gone before. On top of that, the memories of the war and hearing that his wife and child had been killed were mixing up with the case that they’d just finished. 

It felt like he’d just lost them. It felt too soon to start something. At the same time, he knew it had been a good twenty years since he’d lost them. 

He was fighting with himself. He should be better than this. He should probably pack for tomorrow, but instead he ended up falling asleep on the couch.

Tomorrow morning, he met Tony at Tony’s apartment which he somehow remembered how to get to even though he didn’t remember being there before. He had his go bag and exchanged keys with Tony, even though technically his place wasn’t locked and therefore Tony didn’t need a key. Tony didn’t say much just waved and headed off to work.

Maybe the guy really did only see him as a friend and boss, then. Gibbs suspected he could change that if he tried, but first he had to figure out how to put his girls to rest for good. Oh, they wouldn’t ever be gone entirely, but if he could put the loss and pain behind him, he was pretty sure he could move on with his life.


	4. The Director

Tony was getting more and more desperate for Gibbs to get his head on straight. He’d lost count of the times that he’d turned the director down for this operation. He’d looked into it and Jeanne had no connection to her father’s black market dealings whatsoever.

In fact, her father was very careful to keep her out of it. Tony hoped that Jenny was prepared for the backlash if she dragged the daughter into the shady underworld of black market dealings. Now, Jenny had gone so far as to show up at their active crime scene, complete with a dead petty officer, with Jeanne Benoit. 

Had the director lost it? If he did do the operation, Jeanne wasn’t supposed to know about his day job. He couldn’t believe what the director was doing.

He chatted with Gibbs every day and while it was obvious that Gibbs was making progress on letting his girls go, he wasn’t ready to come back yet. That day couldn’t come soon enough in Tony’s opinion. He had no idea what Jenny was up to, but he knew one thing for sure. She wasn’t thinking things all the way through when it came to this op.

It came as a surprise to Tony to see Gibbs in the office when they got back from the crime scene. Tony made a questioning face and Gibbs shook his head before nodding towards the director’s office. Tony frowned, but the team had a hot lead that they needed to follow up on, so he couldn’t worry about what Gibbs was up to. 

By the time they returned after chasing down a lead, which ended up being a bust, Gibbs was long gone. Tony needed to head over to his apartment after work; he needed to know exactly what Gibbs had been up to. 

Was he digging into why Jenny was behaving weird? Was he planning to come back to work? Was there something else going on? Tony needed to know for his peace of mind. 

He didn’t expect the candles or the wine laid out with dinner. What was Gibbs up to now? “Gibbs? Am I interrupting something?”

“Nope. I was waiting for you, in fact.” Gibbs smiled.

Tony had to admit he was kind of freaked out. This wasn’t normal behavior. “What’s going on, Gibbs?”

“Sit.”

“I’m not sure I should.”

Gibbs rolled his eyes. “I promise I won’t bite, unless you want me to.”

Tony’s brows drew together and a perplexed expression settled across his face. “The fuck, Gibbs?”

“It’s just a meal, Tony, not the Spanish Inquisition.”

Tony frowned in suspicion, but finally sat down in the other seat. 

“Wine?” Gibbs offered. 

“Is that mine?”

Gibbs shrugged. “I wanted to make sure it was a brand you liked.”

Tony shook his head. “Seriously, Gibbs what is this?”

“Dinner. What does it look like?”

”A date?”

“And would it be so bad if it was?”

“No, but don’t you think you should have asked first?”

“Have to take the opportunities where I can get them.”

“I’m an opportunity now?” Tony frowned.

“No, this dinner is.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“You’re overly suspicious. Eat.”

Tony eyed Gibbs, but finally took a bite of the food. “Hey, this is really good. I didn’t know you could cook.”

“A few things.” Gibbs shrugged.

“What other secrets don’t I know?”

“Lots.”

Tony shook his head. “Even though you want this to be a date, you’re still not much of a talker, huh?”

Gibbs shrugged. “I say what needs to be said.”

“And what is that?”

”I know what I feel for you now.”

“You do?”

Gibbs nodded. “I want to explore a relationship between us.”

“I’ll have to think about that. I’ve always thought of you as a friend and coworker. Never considered something more.”

Gibbs nodded. “But you’ve entertained some fantasies.”

Tony coughed, surprised. “What makes you say that?”

“You weren’t shocked when I came on to you or disgusted.”

“I’ve been hit on by men before. I’m well aware of my physical attributes.”

Gibbs shook his head. “It’s more than that.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, doing his best to appear calm.

“Come on, you can’t say that you’ve never thought about it. You have to have some good boss fantasies, at the very least.”

“And you think you would star in those?”

“Well yeah. You never lasted more than 2 years with any other boss.” Gibbs grinned widely.

Tony shook his head. “Well you’re definitely confident.”

“I have to be or I’d be running out the door at your lack of enthusiasm.”

“Give me time. I still have to wrap my mind around this idea.”

Gibbs nodded. “I understand.”

“So what were you doing in Jenny’s office, anyway?”

“Twofold. First, I needed to find out what she was really up to with Benoit and second I needed to let her know I’d be coming back to work next week.”

“Really? You’re coming back.”

Gibbs grunted. “It’s time.”

Tony eyed Gibbs and nodded. “Ziva and McGee will be happy.”

“Not doing it for them.”

Tony lapsed into silence after that. Gibbs attempted to turn the conversation to more lighthearted topics, but he didn’t have the skill that Tony did at making small talk. Gibbs finally gave up and suggested watching a movie since they were both done eating.

That caused Tony to glance at the time. He realized that he should be getting back to his place, well, Gibbs’ place, rather. He made his excuses and left. 

Gibbs frowned after him. He’d thought that date would go a lot better than it did. This seduction was turning out to be harder than he had originally thought it would be. Gibbs spent the rest of his “vacation,” strategizing how to woo Tony once he returned to work. He even talked Abby into spying on Tony for him, in the hope that she could help him determine Tony’s state of mind.


	5. Gibbs' Return

To start off his campaign, Gibbs called McGee on his first day back to work and ordered him to pick up a coffee with that hazelnut crap that Tony liked. He carefully moved Tony’s things from his desk back to Tony’s desk. He didn’t understand the hurt look Tony shot him when he arrived. 

Tony smiled at McGee when he brought him the coffee as Gibbs ordered. Gibbs glared at McGee until he coughed and admitted that it was from Gibbs. Tony then turned to look at Gibbs in confusion.

Gibbs vowed to redouble his efforts to woo Tony, so that there would be no confusion in the future. During lunch, Gibbs stole Abby away to see if she had any good ideas for romancing Tony. He still didn’t understand why Tony had looked so hurt when he arrived that morning, but he would figure it out eventually.

It wasn’t until he got home to Tony’s place that evening that he realized he’d basically kicked Tony out of the leadership role and perhaps given the team the impression that he didn’t respect Tony’s leadership abilities.This really was going to be harder than he originally thought. 

His next attempt to woo Tony came in the form of enlisting Abby to help. He had her set up a romantic lunch in her lab for Gibbs and Tony as a surprise for Tony. “DiNozzo, with me,” Gibbs barked as he headed for Abby’s lab and the romantic dinner.

Tony shook his head and followed Gibbs, wondering what he was up to this time. Gibbs was giving him such mixed message he didn’t have the slightest idea what was going on anymore. Tony stopped in surprise at the entrance to Abby’s lab as he noticed the candlelit meal spread out before him.

“Gibbs?”

‘I thought we could have lunch together.”

Tony sat down and the lab descended into silence as neither of them spoke. He couldn’t help shaking his head. Gibbs was giving him such mixed messages, it wasn’t even funny.

Romantic lunch, but they ate it in silence. Coffee the way he liked it via McGee, but he put Tony’s stuff back on his desk. “What are you doing, Gibbs?”

“I thought that would be obvious.”

Tony remained silent and waited for Gibbs to explain, which seemed to be becoming a pattern around Gibbs these days.

“I’m trying to woo you.”

“Well then do a better job of not crossing the wires, please. Let’s actually talk about feelings or something.”

Gibbs made a face. “You know I’m better at showing than talking.”

“Well you’re not doing well at either, right now, as far as I can tell,” Tony pointed out.

“Have I ruined it already?”

“No, but you need to step up your game if you’re really serious about this.”

Gibbs frowned thoughtfully. “How about I take you to the movies the next weekend we have off?”

“That would be good.”

Of course, that’s when they got slammed with case after case. The movie date didn’t happen for a good three weeks, and in the meantime, Gibbs had mostly reverted back to bastard Gibbs at work. When they finally did gate a weekend off, Tony was surprised to find Gibbs on his doorstep. 

Even more surprising, Gibbs held a bouquet of bright orange flowers in his hand when Tony opened the door. He’d thought for sure that Gibbs had decided he wasn’t interested in a relationship after everything that happened at work. That night Gibbs paid for everything and Tony couldn’t decide if it was sweet or emasculating. 

After the movie, they went back to Tony’s place, aka where Gibbs was currently staying. They’d settled down onto the couch, but before Tony could suggest a movie, Gibbs dove headfirst into the relationship talk. 

“What do you feel about me?”

Tony stared at him blankly, feeling like he was being carried downstream by a strong current.

Gibbs shook his head. “Sorry. That’s not what I meant.”

Tony frowned in confusion now. He’d had fun on the date, but didn’t really know where he wanted this relationship to go. He hadn’t really thought about it after bastard Gibbs had made his reappearance at work. He couldn’t deny that he found Gibbs attractive, but a relationship on physical beauty and nothing else never lasted, much like his father’s many wives. 

“I realize I’ve been sending mixed signals, so I want to get one thing straight. I want you,” Gibbs baldly stated.

“Is this just sex?”

Gibbs fiercely shook his head. “This is so much more than sex. I feel more for you than I have for anyone, even Shannon.”

Tony opened his mouth to ask something else, but stopped when he realized what Gibbs had said. He loved him more than his dead wife. Given how messed up Gibbs was over her death that was saying a lot.

For once, Gibbs didn’t wait for Tony to say something. “I don’t want to chase you away by coming on too strong, too fast, but I am absolutely serious about this relationship. I couldn’t be more serious about it. If you don’t think you can be the same, tell me now.”

Tony blinked and shook his head, feeling like he was coming out of a stupor. “I can’t say I’m in as deep as you are, but I agree there is something between us worth exploring.”

By mutual agreement, they stopped the heavy discussion there and settled in to watch a movie. By the time Tony left, he realized that Gibbs had basically put everything out there and he needed to take a real good look at his feelings. If he couldn’t be serious, then he needed to call it off and otherwise he needed to step it up. Gibbs had been the one doing all the wooing so far and while Tony couldn’t deny that he enjoyed that, it was time for him to man up and plan a date himself.

Of course, just because they were on the same page relationship-wise didn’t mean that everything was unicorns and roses, especially not when they caught a tough case or one involving kids. Bastard Gibbs always made an appearance during those cases and as they frequently ended up sleeping at the office, Tony didn’t see his Gibbs for a while. It had been hard to handle Gibbs’ moods before they got together and it wasn’t any easier now. 

The tension was building between them, due to stress, and Tony knew that it would eventually come to a head and he’d end up in a yelling match with Gibbs. He just hoped that it could wait until they weren’t in the middle of a case. He’d wanted to take Gibbs to the marina and out on a boat for their next date, but now he wasn’t sure that was the best idea. He could just imagine the discussion they needed to have about work Gibbs vs home Gibbs and Tony’s feelings devolving into shouting and one or both of them tumbling over the edge of a sail boat into the water.

Plus, he didn’t want to ruin boats for either of them, over a fight about how Gibbs acted at work, since he knew how much Gibbs loved his boats. Tony even understood, to a certain extent, why Gibbs behaved the way he did, but Gibbs needed to understand that some balance was required. If they were going to have this relationship and make it work, it couldn’t only be when they were off duty. So much of their time was spent at work, which was how they wanted it, that down time was few and far between and could spell disaster for their relationship if they didn’t find balance.

Not that Tony wanted to come out to the team or have romantic gestures at work, though that cat had been out of the bag ever since Gibbs had borrowed Abby’s lab to set up a romantic picnic, but there had to be some way that they could compromise. Where Gibbs could do something that wouldn’t affect the team’s view of him or their desire to solve the case, but would let Tony know that they were in this together. Technically, they were breaking NCIS regs for a team member to be dating his team lead and they needed to have that discussion too.

Tony didn’t want to leave the team, but he knew that if Jenny found out about them; she would force Rota or some other position on him. They needed to be prepared and figure out what they wanted to do. Tony was honestly a little surprised that Jenny hadn’t already figured it out.

It wasn’t like Gibbs had been quiet about wooing Tony. The director had just been a little preoccupied chasing after La Grenoiulle. He was pretty sure the entire team knew that Gibbs was pursuing Tony. Tony knew he was borrowing trouble, but he needed a distraction from the current case. 

Ziva chose that moment to interrupt. “I think I have something, Gibbs.” 

“What is it, Ziva?”

“The stepmother, she is vault.”

Everyone blinked at that. “What do you mean?”

“She is flush with cash.”

“Oh. You mean bank or rich.”

“Bank, vault, what’s the difference?”

Tony shook his head. “Never mind. You heard her, Probie. Dig into the stepmother’s financials. Let’s see what she’s hiding and how it relates to our murder.”

Gibbs shot Tony a look. Usually, he was the one who gave the orders. Still he didn’t contradict Tony’s orders as he would have said the same. 

He really wanted this case over, so that he could take Tony out on another date. For once, the job wasn’t his end all, be all. He looked forward to downtime now. 

He knew he was driving the team hard, but they needed to figure out why the Lieutenant’s daughter was killed while he was on duty. Still, it was all getting to be a bit too much; he needed out of the office. “Going for coffee.”

Tony nodded, returning to his own papers and searches related to the case. While he liked the stepmother for the death, they had to rule out everyone else and be absolutely sure it could only have been her. The family had a couple of servants that Tony was currently chasing down. So far nothing had come up on the backgrounds, but he was still looking through ancillary accounts and alternative payments. 

By the time Gibbs returned with coffee, dropping off coffees for everyone on the team as well, McGee had found the proof they needed and Tony had ruled out the servants. Tony smiled slightly at Gibbs as he tasted the hazelnut in his coffee. Gibbs nodded back.

After McGee explained what he found, Gibbs commanded, “Tony with me. We’ll pick her up. You two get started on your reports so that we can all get out of here.”

As Tony joined Gibbs in the NCIS vehicle they were taking to pick up the suspect, he wondered if he should broach Gibbs’ behavior at work. He appreciated the coffee being the kind he liked, but that wasn’t enough to make up for the bear of an attitude that Gibbs had had this entire case. He eventually decided against it, though, and kept quiet.

“What’s wrong?” Gibbs probed, “You’re quiet.”

“Nothing.”

“You worried about the stepmother?”

“Nah. She doesn’t know we’re coming.”

“Then what is it?”

“Not now, Gibbs.”

“After we close the case?”

Tony nodded slightly and they both lapsed into silence again.


	6. Figuring Things Out

The stepmother tried to run and Tony cursed as he chased her down and cuffed her. She practically spilled her guts as they took her back to NCIS. There wasn’t even much point in interrogation, but they still needed to dot their i’s and cross their t’s. 

They were able to quickly wrap up the case, finalizing the paperwork and actually getting out of work at a reasonable hour. When he realized that leaving at a decent hour was looking more and more likely, Tony called and made reservations at a fun park. He thought they could start with the batting cages and then maybe try their hand at some of the water games before going to dinner for a quiet discussion about Tony’s concerns. 

“I’m driving,” Tony announced as they entered the parking garage together.

“I drive,” Gibbs pointed out, not really angry, but definitely surprised.

“You can’t drive. You don’t know where we’re going.”

“Aren’t we going to our homes?”

“Nope. I planned a surprise for us.”

”Lead on then, MacDuff.”

Tony unlocked Gibbs’ door and then climbed into the driver’s side. They drove in silence. As Tony parked, he explained, “I thought we could start by relieving some of the stress of the case via batting cages and other activities here.”

“Sounds good.”

Without speaking, they both headed for the batting cages. Tony paid for 30 minutes and they both entered one of the cages, which were surprisingly small and intimate. 

“You know, the last time I was in one of these, I was showing my current hookup how to bat.” Gibbs murmured.

Tony had to strain to hear him and couldn’t help wondering if the comment was actually intended for him. “Oh really? Do you often bring dates here?”

Gibbs shrugged. “It’s a good excuse to put my hands on their bodies.”

“You want to try it with me?” Tony offered.

“I think you already know how to bat.”

“So? Doesn’t mean you can’t give me pointers.”

Gibbs chuckled. “If you want.”

“I wouldn’t want to miss out on the full Gibbs’ wooing experience.”

“Why don’t you show me what you got then and I’ll correct as needed.”

Tony grinned. “Ok. Bring it on.”

Gibbs set the pitching machine and stepped back, leaving Tony ready to do battle against the ball machine. Gibbs could definitely see Tony’s athletic abilities in use. There was a certain strength to his form that couldn’t be taught. 

Still, there were improvements that could be made. Gibbs flipped the switch to stop the ball machine and stepped up to Tony, wrapping both hands around the grip of the bat in Tony’s hands and incidentally Tony as well. “You have a good body form, but you need to feel the bat more. It needs to be an extension of your body.”

Tony shivered. Gibbs ignored it, even though he was pressed close enough to Tony that he could feel every move he made. “Make sure to caress every part of it. You need to know it better than you know yourself.”

Tony took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. “Is this really what you did with your other dates?” he asked, trying to distract himself.

“No.” Gibbs stepped closer to Tony, so that he was completely flush against him. “This is what I did with them.” 

With no space between them, Gibbs wrapped his hands around the bat tighter and moved his body and Tony’s in a smooth swinging motion. “See. You have to go with the flow of the bat. Don’t fight it. Move with it.”

They swayed like that for a little bit until Gibbs felt that Tony had the movement of the bat and then he stepped back, completely disconnecting so that no part of his body was touching Tony’s. “Now try again.”

Tony cursed. “You really are a tease,” he commented, but took up a ready position.

Gibbs smirked and turned on the ball machine again. This time the bat connected with the ball. Thwack. The ball hit against the back of the cage, right smack in the center.

Tony laughed, “Hey, Home run!”

“Much better. Now practice that another 50 or so times until it’s as natural as breathing.”

Tony sighed and shook his head to try to get rid of the tantalizing feeling of Gibbs’ body against his. The next hit wasn’t as smooth and Gibbs shook his head. “You can do better,” he called.

Tony did his best to ignore Gibbs and this time the smack could be heard loud and clear as the ball sailed through the air, hitting high up in the cage. He hit a few more home runs and decided to spice things up again by moving sensually as he hit the ball, to tease Gibbs right back. Tony grinned as he heard Gibbs’ gasp, especially as the hit connected and would have been another home run.

After Tony finished the last set, they both agreed to leave despite Gibbs not getting a chance to hit the balls outside of demonstration. They were almost out of the time they’d paid for anyway. Of course, hitting more baseballs wasn’t even on either of their minds. Tony again opened the passenger-side door for Gibbs before climbing into the driver’s seat. 

“Where are we going now?” Gibbs asked.

“I thought we could enjoy a nice dinner and talk about some things.” Tony really didn’t want to talk about work, right now, but he knew if they didn’t do it soon; it would never happen. 

“Talk? Isn’t it past time for talking?” Gibbs gave Tony a suggestive once-over.

“No. I want this relationship to work and if we don’t discuss this, well, it’s not going to work for me.”

Gibbs frowned and lapsed into silence. Tony had picked one of those restaurants where enjoyment of the food was what mattered and thus the waitstaff were silent and almost invisible, leaving them plenty of privacy to talk to each other. By the time they were seated, Gibbs had tensed up in preparation for the worst.

Tony waved at him dismissively. “Calm down. It’s not that bad. We just need to sort something out before it becomes a big deal.”

“Let’s just get this over with.”

Tony shook his head. “After we order.”

Gibbs frowned and looked at the menu. “Is there even anything decent to eat here?”

Tony chuckled, “They have steaks. I’m sure they don’t match up to yours, but they should be edible, enjoyable even.”

The waiter came over, a tall lanky thing, and Gibbs grunted, “Steak. Medium rare.”

“Would you like something to drink?”

Gibbs looked at Tony and grumbled, “Bourbon on the rocks.”

Tony chuckled. “It’s really not that bad, Gibbs.”

Gibbs just glared and refused to say anything further until the server left. “OK. We’ve ordered. Now, what is it?”

“It’s really not a big deal. Just, when we’re on a case you’re so focused on the case that nothing else exists, not even our relationship. I can’t turn it off and on like that, Gibbs. I can’t go 24/7 for weeks with no sign of our relationship and then just pick up where we left off when the case is over.”

“This is how I’ve always been. Why is it a problem now?” 

“We weren’t in a relationship before, Gibbs.”

“So, what, we need to talk about our feelings every day?”

Tony shuddered. “God, no. Just I need something. Whether it’s that we go home for the night instead of sleeping at the office, so that we can cuddle, or a cup of hot chocolate every so often, just something. It could be a note slipped into case files, for all I care. Just some sign that you’re thinking of me and haven’t forgotten our relationship. I’m happy to reciprocate however you want as well.”

Gibbs relaxed. “Okay, I can work with that. Probably won’t be hot chocolate all that frequently as we don’t want hints of favoritism.”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, Jenny. If she finds out, she’ll probably try to transfer me to Rota.”

“I thought you turned that down.”

“I did, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she brought it back up to punish us for being in a relationship and to keep us as far apart as possible.”

“If it comes to that, you let me handle Jenny. I’ve known her longer and have more sway with her.”

“Is that your, ‘I’m going to bribe her to keep us together’?”

“Maybe.” Gibbs smirked.

Tony chuckled and the conversation turned to lighter things. As the evening drew to a close, Tony wished it was the weekend and they didn’t have to go to work the next day. However, that wasn’t the case, so he dropped Gibbs off at his apartment and drove to Gibbs’ house alone, falling into bed exhausted but happy.


	7. Together?

The next morning he picked Gibbs up and drove him to NCIS, since Gibbs’ car was left there. Work was rather boring, finishing up reports, looking at cold cases and the weekend was soon here. Now that they had a weekend free and talked things out, Tony wanted to take Gibbs out for a boat ride. 

He made the plans and called Gibbs up to see if he was amenable. Gibbs immediately agreed to meet him at the marina. 

“Isn’t it my turn to pick the date?” Gibbs asked as he spotted Tony leaning against a boat.

“Nope. Wednesday at the batting cages doesn’t count, plus you’re still ahead in planned dates even if you count Wednesday.”

“So what’s this?”

“A weekend with a boat and some company?” Tony shrugged, attempting to appear like it didn’t matter. In his head, he worried that it wouldn’t go well. That they’d spend a weekend together on a boat with no chance for time away from each other and it would all fall apart. If so, it wouldn’t be the first relationship he’d had that suffered from too much time together.

“Sounds great. Are you driving this thing or am I?”

Tony gestured to the boat. “Up to you, though, I make no promises that I’m any good at navigating. I generally can avoid hitting things, though.”

”I think I’ll steer then.”

“As you wish. Admittedly, the last time I took the helm on a motorboat; it was because my dad was too drunk to get us home.”

Gibbs stared at Tony for a minute. He really didn’t know what to say to that that wouldn’t ruin the mood and climbed onto the boat. “Come on, let’s go and forget about work for a while.”

Tony watched as Gibbs steered the boat out into deeper water. “Do you have a favorite place you like to go when you sail?”

“Not really. I don’t get out on the water much anymore.”

“You build all those boats in your basement and you don’t actually use any of them?”

Gibbs hummed. “I usually end up burning them when my relationships fail.”

“Well, I suppose that’s one way to let go of a bad relationship. It must be cathartic.”

“Something like that.”

Tony looked out at the water and sighed. “Sort of sad though, destroying something you love.”

When they were far enough away from land and other people, Gibbs dropped the anchor and they settled into a couple of chairs to chat and stare at the water. They talked about anything and everything. Tony was surprised to find that Gibbs didn’t seem to feel the need to hide from him anymore. 

He’d never expected Gibbs to be this open about his past relationships or anything else in his personal life.Yet, Gibbs was sharing more than Tony was right now. He really didn’t want the weekend to end. 

They were having more fun than he’d expected when he originally planned this. Surprisingly, Gibbs had even gone skinny dipping with him a couple of times and they’d played around like fools, splashing each other and horsing around.

It was a playful side of Gibbs, which Tony wasn’t used to seeing, and he didn’t want to go back to work where he knew bastard Gibbs would rear his ugly head again. Seriously, he felt like he was flip flopping between two extremes right now. Alas, reality must intrude and even before they’d fully finished saying their goodbyes back on shore, their phones were ringing and dispatch was sending them on a new case. 

It was still Sunday and they weren’t on call, but apparently they were starting Monday early for some reason. Tony sighed. He really didn’t want to go back to work right now. 

His emotions were in turmoil and being at work would not make it easier to sort them out. Gibbs seemed to sense some of his struggles as he gave Tony a big bear hug and whispered, “It will be okay. I’ll be right there with you, remember.”

Tony nodded. “Thanks, Gibbs.”

They climbed into separate cars and headed for the crime scene. Tony was a little hopeful that things could work out now, but this case would probably tell them that for sure. The MCRT didn’t get called in for easy cases and Gibbs was always a bear with the tough cases. 

Still, Tony pulled on his mask as he drove to the crime scene. He always wore a mask at work anyway, but he was finding it harder to put it on now that he was dating Gibbs. That wasn’t really Gibbs’ fault, but it definitely didn’t make it easier for Tony to deal with everything.

Separating personal from work was never easy, but he hadn’t expected it to be as hard as it was. He’d been right. This was a doozy of a case. 

A young man wearing the uniform of a petty officer had apparently washed up on shore with no signs of any trauma except for the damage the local sea life had inflicted upon his body. McGee tried to fingerprint the guy, but he wasn’t coming back with a name. In fact, as far as they could tell he wasn’t any of the enlisted. So who was he? 

Was he even a petty officer? By the end of the first day they were all stymied and had zero leads. Tony fully expected Gibbs to keep them there overnight, instead he sent them home around 10. 

Tony was grateful and headed out with the rest of the team. Of course, that wasn’t the only surprise of the night. Instead of coming home to Gibbs’ empty house, he found Gibbs’ car in the garage and Gibbs in the living room when he arrived.

“Are we trading back? Are you ready to live here again?”

Gibbs shook his head. “I just thought about what we talked about at dinner on Wednesday and the idea of sleeping together at night sounded really good to me. I thought we could do that. Just sleep. Not anything more.”

Tony blinked, almost dumbfounded at Gibbs coming over here to cuddle him. “Sure. Let’s go.”

Gibbs followed Tony to the bedroom that Tony had been sleeping in. He was relieved to see that it was the guest bedroom and not the master. He didn’t think he would have been able to actually sleep in the master, not yet, even with Tony beside him.

Gibbs stripped down to his boxers and Tony took everything off since he preferred to sleep in the nude. Tony caught Gibbs stealing a peek, but didn’t say anything. They’d agreed to just sleep, after all.

In an attempt to prevent himself from blushing, Tony moved to climb into the bed only to collide into Gibbs who was doing the exact same thing on the exact same side. Tony chuckled and gestured to the bed, “After you.”

Of course, despite sharing a bed on the boat, there had only been one, sleep didn’t come easily that night. Both of them were still worked up by the case, but they eventually fell asleep. Tony woke feeling refreshed, which wasn’t something that happened frequently when they were in the middle of a case.

He had to admit he was feeling a little hopeful that they could actually make this work. Gibbs was definitely trying, which was a big piece of it. Still, they had a case to solve and when they were no closer to solving it the second day, Gibbs growled and made the team remain at NCIS for an all-nighter. When Tony woke the next morning, however, he discovered that a note had been tucked into his jacket that he’d been using as a pillow.

It said: ‘You’re cute when you sleep.’ Tony smiled slightly, before hiding the note. 

He was feeling better about this relationship already. Now if only they could solve the case, so that he could do more fun things with Gibbs. They hadn’t even had sex yet and it was kind of driving Tony crazy, especially after all that teasing at the batting cages and on the boat.

They finally figured out who their dead petty officer was. Apparently, he was actually the boyfriend of one of the petty officers. He’d stolen one of his boyfriend’s uniforms so that he could sneak onto the ship for a little fun while the ship was docked at port. 

Only… The crewmates took exception to a gay man and tossed him overboard and he didn’t know how to swim. It was very sad. The entire team left the office a little depressed after they solved the case. 

Tony went back to Gibbs’ house. Gibbs once again beat him there and they had dinner and cuddled on the couch. As much as he wanted sex, he was too sad about the unnecessary death to try for it that night. 

They ended up falling asleep on the couch. The next morning they had a quick breakfast before they were back to work. Weeks passed with a similar pattern of going to work, each man finding ways to make sure the other knew he was thinking about him while working, and then going home to Gibbs’ house to sleep (without sex) in the guest room bed. 

In fact, it didn’t dawn on Tony that they’d essentially moved in together until he realized that all of Gibbs’ things were back in Gibbs’ house and that they spent basically every evening together when they weren’t at work. Gibbs had apparently moved back in without telling Tony. Tony smiled softly and didn’t mention anything either. 

Things were going well and he didn’t feel the need to define their relationship more than they already had. One thing was for sure, though. They were in this together and there wasn’t anything Jenny or anyone else could do to stop it. 

Not that the director had tried anything. In fact, Tony was pretty sure that no one at NCIS knew they were dating - except Abby and Tim, who had been dragged into Gibbs’ schemes and had undoubtedly told Ziva. Though, Tony wasn’t sure if anyone besides Abby had actually put all the pieces together. It didn’t really matter, Tony and Gibbs knew and that’s what was important. 

They’d eventually tell their friends, but for now Tony was content with the way things were and he was pretty sure Gibbs was too, given the blissed out look he’d had from their love making before he’d fallen asleep.


End file.
